Rules & Regulations of the State of Tennessee
Title 1150 - TN Boards of Occupational and Physical Therapy
Chapter 1150-01 - General Rules Governing the Practice of Physical Therapy
Section 1150-01-.01 - DEFINITIONS

(1) The Act - The statute governing the practice of occupational and physical therapy in Tennessee as codified at Title 63, Chapter 13 of the Tennessee Code Annotated.

(2) Advertising - Includes, but is not limited to, business solicitations, with or without limiting qualifications, in a card, sign, or device issued to a person; in a sign or marking in or on any building; or in any newspaper, magazine, directory, or other printed matter. Advertising also includes business solicitations communicated by individual, radio, video, Internet, or television broadcasting or any other means designed to secure public attention.

(3) American Physical Therapy Association - When the acronym "APTA" appears in these rules, it is intended to mean the American Physical Therapy Association.

(4) Applicant - Any individual seeking licensure by the board and who has submitted an official application and paid the application fee.

(5) Board - The Board of Physical Therapy.

(6) Board administrative office - The office of the Unit Director assigned to the board located at 227 French Landing, Suite 300, Heritage Place, MetroCenter, Nashville, TN 37243.

(7) Board Designee - Any person who has received a written delegation of authority from the board to perform board functions subject to review and ratification by the full board where provided by these rules.

(8) Clinical Student - A student enrolled in a CAPTE approved developing program or a CAPTE accredited physical therapy program or regionally accredited post professional physical therapist program.

(9) Closed file - An administrative action which renders an incomplete or denied file inactive.

(10) Commission on Accreditation of Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) - An agency approved by the Board of Physical Therapy to accredit schools of physical therapy pursuant to T.C.A. § 63-13-307(a).

(11) Consultation - A meeting that is conducted either face-to-face or by some other medium such as, but not limited to, telephone, facsimile, mail, or electronic means, wherein two or more health professionals discuss the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of a particular case.

(12) Continuing Competence - The ongoing application of professional knowledge, skills and abilities which relate to occupational performance objectives in the range of possible encounters that is defined by that individual's scope of practice and practice setting.

(13) Department - Tennessee Department of Health.

(14) Division - The Division of Health Related Boards, Department of Health, from which the board receives administrative support.

(15) Examination Service - The testing service whose examination has been adopted by the board.

(16) Fee - Money, gifts, services, or anything of value offered or received as compensation in return for rendering services; also, the required fee(s) pursuant to these rules.

(17) Good Moral Character - The quality of being well regarded in personal behavior and professional ethics.

(18) Guide to Physical Therapist Practice - The APTA document, adopted by the Board pursuant to rule 1150-01-.02 that explains physical therapy scope of practice, preferred practice patterns, and appropriate utilization of services.

(19) He/she Him/her - When "he" appears in the text of these rules, the word represents both the feminine and masculine genders.

(20) HRB - When the acronym "HRB" appears in the text of these rules, it represents Health Related Boards.

(21) Internationally Educated - An individual who has graduated from a PT or PTA program outside the United States and its jurisdictions.

(22) License - Document issued to an applicant who has successfully completed the licensure process. The license takes the form of an "artistically designed" license as well as other versions bearing an expiration date.

(23) Licensee - Any person duly licensed by the board to engage in the practice of physical therapy.

(24) Licensed Physical Therapist (PT) - Any person who has met the qualifications for licensed physical therapist and holds a current, unsuspended and unrevoked license which has been lawfully issued by the board.

(25) Licensed Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA) - Any person who has met the qualifications for licensed physical therapist assistant and holds a current, unsuspended and unrevoked license that has been lawfully issued by the board. PTAs perform physical therapy procedures and related tasks that have been selected and delegated only by the supervising physical therapist.

(26) Manual Therapy Techniques - Consist of a broad group of passive interventions in which physical therapists use their hands to administer skilled movements designed to modulate pain; increase joint range of motion; reduce or eliminate soft tissue swelling, inflammation, or restriction; induce relaxation; improve contractile and noncontractile tissue extensibility; and improve pulmonary functions. These interventions involve a variety of techniques, such as the application of graded forces, which are not performed beyond the joint's normal range of motion. These interventions may be applied to all joints of the body as deemed appropriate.

(27) Person - Any individual, firm, corporation, partnership, organization, or political entity.

(28) Physical Therapy Assistive Personnel -

(29) Physical Therapy Treatment Diagnosis - Both the process and the end result of evaluating information obtained from the examination, which the physical therapist then organizes into defined clusters, syndromes, or categories to help determine the most appropriate intervention strategies.

(30) Recognized credentialing agency - An agency approved by the board which evaluates the educational credentials of international graduates who have not attended CAPTE -accredited or board approved schools of physical therapy pursuant to T.C.A. § 63-13-307(a).

(31) Recognized educational institution - Any educational institution that is accredited by CAPTE and which is approved by the board.

(32) Relative - A parent, foster parent, parent-in-law, child, spouse, brother, foster brother, sister, foster sister, grandparent, grandchild, son-in-law, brother-in-law, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, or other family member who resides in the same household.

(33) Restriction - Any action deemed appropriate by the board to be required of a disciplined licensee during any period of probation, suspension, or revocation with leave to apply or as a prerequisite to the lifting of probation or suspension, or any action deemed appropriate by the board to be required of an applicant for licensure.

(34) Use of a title or description - To hold oneself out to the public as having a particular status, including but not limited to, by the use of signs, mailboxes, address plates, stationery, announcements, advertising, the Internet, business cards, or other means of professional identification.

(35) Volunteer personnel - Uncompensated individuals contemplating a career in physical therapy, and are limited to observation of physical therapy functions and are prohibited from the delivery of physical therapy services.

(36) Written evidence - Includes, but is not limited to, written verification from supervisors or other professional colleagues familiar with the applicant's work.